Holder



J. E. KELLEY P Jan. 31, 1933.

HOLDER Filed May 28, 1930 ATT NEYJ Patented Jan. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES JOHN E KELLE'Y, OF BANGOR, MAINE HOLDER I Application filed May 28,

This invention "relates to holders for main- .taining articles or members, such as the trunk of a Christmas tree, in upright relation.

Among the objects of the invention may be i 5 'noted the'provision of a readily assembled device for holding a member,'-such as the trunk of a Christmas tree, in. upright or vertical position from a horizontal surface such as a'floor; the provision of a holder of the above character which is constructedv of duplicate parts and capable of assembly or disassembly at will; the provision or base for upright members which is knock-down in character, and which is made up of component parts which may be nested for shipment or when not in use; the provision of a holder of the above character made up of duplicate parts, each having attaching means complemental to attaching means-arranged in an adjacent part, thus necessitating no extraneous fasteningmeans upon assembly thereof; and the provision of a simple, durable and in expensive holder which forms a-stable support for an upright or substantially vertical member or article. A

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawing and in part indicated from the following analysis of this invention, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawing illustrating an embodiment of my idea. l In the drawing V Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled holder of my invention; 7

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the disassembled holder, the parts thereof being ar- I ranged for shipment or storage; r Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of holder;

Fig. 4 is a separated detail of certain of the parts of the holder shown in Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing,;the holder as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of four oblong arm members 10, preferably of wood, which are machined or cut so; asto tended bearing or brace. Fig. 1,the wall portions 12 of each of the of the said pockets and tenons are restrained blank of sheetmetal and bent orfolded lon- 1930. sci-m1 No. 456,411.

be duplicate or identical in character. Each ad member is provided with a pocket 11 prefer ably in the form of a dove-tail groove, which is disposed along a wall thereof and between the relatively shortsocket'wall portion 12,

and a relatively 'extendedbraceportion. 13. At the ends of each member and adjoining the socket wall portion 12, there is formed a tenon 14, preferably in the form of a dovetail tongue. The pockets 11 and tongues 1 1 635 extend in a vertical plane when theholder is assembled or setup e i p I 5 By theabove described arrangement, the arm members '10 are arranged at rightangles to each other with their brace portions ,extending outwardly, and the tongues. 14 are slidably inter-engaged in the pockets 11. The

bottom edges of the arms lie flushon the floor surface, and the relatively extended brace portions 13 of the arm form an ex- By reference to arms are brought into adjacent relation and form a socket for the member or article to be held in upright position. Any. inclination of K0 the article supported in thesocket from a vertical position causes the contacting faces of the tenons or, tongues l l .and pockets .11 to bind. on each other. Consequently, the faces from relative slipping, and the holder is maintained in an operative assembled condi- .tion; when any article is held upright within the socket. Upon removal of the member or article from the socket, the" binding pressure is relieved and the tenons ofthe arms are freely slidable from the pockets of the cooperating arms whereby to permit ready dis- 7 assembly.

tratedinFigs. 3 and 4, there is shown a holder of sheet metal, preferably steel. In this modified form, four duplicate; arm members 20 are provided, each fabricated from a single 90 In the modified form of holder as illus- 1. V

I gitudinally thereof to form leaves or sides 21, 22 and a connecting neck28. Intermediate the relatively extended brace portions 24 and socket wall portions 25 of each arm, the sides are spaced apart whereby to form a groove or pocket 26. Otherwise the sides 21, 22 are in contacting relation whereby to proi vide good reinforcement. Across-one of the sides, such as the side22'of each arm, is provided a slot 28 in communication with the pocket 26 for the purpose to be hereinafter stated, V w I 1 At 'one end of the arm members and adjacent the socket wall portion thereof, I

I provide a tenon or tongue 30, the same com= prising extensions from the sides 21,22 of the arms, which are bent or flanged outwardly j to extend in a plane normal to the longitudinal plane of the arms 20. A connecting web 31 between thetongueextensions and the arm 20' provides'a rigid link between said parts. While each of'the tonguesBO are shownas formed of two flanged extensions,

it will be understood that the tongue may be formed by a single flanged extension exten'd ing from one or the other-of the sides 21, 22. 'The connecting neck 23 between the sides 21,22 of the"arm members is preferably cut away along the pocket 26 to form an open" mouth permitting entry of the tongue 30 in said pocket. The'web 31, upon assembly of the parts,is adapted to enter, the groove 28,

' which latt'erforms a guideway or track which aids in'the proper seating of the tongue in the pocket. 'It will be evident that the tongue30 may be engaged inxthe pocket 26vthru the bottom thereof as wellasthjru the pocket mouth asdescribed.

' When desired, a reinforcing rib 23 may be formed in the wall 21 of each arm. 20'adjacent the pocket, whereby to provide a reinforcement for the ,arm at the pocket portions thereof; 7 v r As in the holder'illustrated in Figs. lan'd 2, the-arms '20 are adapted to be assembled by engaging the'tongues' 30 in the pockets 2o, whereby the socket wall portions 25 are disposed injadj acent relation to form asocket opening for an article such as the trunk of a tree, Ina similar manner, any-inclination of this article'- from: a fvertical or upright position; causes thelcontacting surfaces of the teno'n's or tongues '30 and pockets'26 to bind on each other, andlresults in the holder being maintained in an operative assembly under all conditions of use. -Upon removal "of the article from the'socket, the tongues 30 may be slid from engagementwith the pockets 26 'and the arms -20 nested for storage or. the like. I c H It will be seen that; the several objectsiof ithe invention are achieved 'and"other,l ad vantageousresultsattained. Asmanychanges could be nade'in carrying out the above in -vention, without departingfrom the-scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying drawingnshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A device for holding an article in upright position comprising a plurality of duplicate members each having means at one end permitting and causing attachment with another of said members, andin one side attaching means'complemental to said first-named means and ;located" between a relativelyfshort socket'wall'portion and a longer brace portion of said member, both'of saidv means being. vertically arranged when the device is in use and operatively related -for slidable engagement with each other, the

arrangement being such thatany inclination of the articlelfrom a vertical position causes both said means to assume a non-slipping relation with'respect to'each other, both said ;means being otherwise freely disengageable.

2. A device for holding an articlein-upright position comprising-afplurality of.

duplicate members, each having anintegral exten sion at one end thereof, and in one side a pocketlocated between a 'relativelyshort socket wallportion and a-longer-brace .porftion of said member, the extensions and pockets being slidably interengage'd a'nd vertically arranged whenfthe holder is in use,

the arrangement being such that any incli nationof the supported article from avertical positioncauses the extension tomore "tightly engage in the pockets, whereby to prevent slipping of the extension within the pockets and 'to maintain the device in operative relation under all conditions of use,

the extensions being otherwise able out of thepocket's.

"freely I slid- 3. A holder 'of-the 'character s'tated, comform a holder, adaptedito have anextend'ed bearing on a floor, and including a central four-sided socket, and armtportions project'- the corner portions of the socket, thetong'ues (being slidable into and out of the grooves, so that the holder may be erectedfor'u'sef 'ing outwardly indifferent directions from and knocked 'doWn for storage and ship ment.r 1 v v 4; A 'socketed and braced-holder composed of a plur'ality of'duplicate oblongjmembers, v

portion-of said member, the tenons' and pockfeach having; a tenon' at oneend andinf one side-a pocket located between arelatively short socket'wall portion and afl-longerbrac'e c the pockets when no binding pressure 1s exerted thereon.

Si ed at Bangor, Maine, this 24th day of ay, 1930. 7

JOHN E. KELLEY. 

